Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 22 of 69

www.rockproducts.com ROCK products • July 2018 • 19
FRAC SAND INSIDER
Fairmount Santrol and Unimin Corp. announced that they
have received the regulatory approvals required to complete
their announced merger, including approval from the Mex-
ican Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE).
The companies are also pleased to announce the approval by
a majority of Fairmount Santrol shareholders at the special
shareholder meeting held May 25.
As reported easrlier, the combined company will be named
Covia Holdings Corp. and will begin trading on the New York
Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CVIA."
Jenniffer Deckard, former president and chief executive offi-
cer of Fairmount Santrol, who now serves as president and
chief executive officer of Covia, said, "Covia will bring together
the strengths of both companies to create an industry leader
in mineral and material solutions for the Energy and Indus-
trial markets. Covia will be strongly positioned to serve
customers' needs through our broad array of high-quality
products, distinctive technical capabilities, and the industry's
most comprehensive production and distribution network.
We believe these competitive advantages will enable us to
achieve our targeted synergy goals while creating greater
value for all of our stakeholders."
Deckard added, "We are very proud of the people at both
legacy companies and would like to thank everyone for all
they have done to help us achieve our goal of creating an
industry leader. We have a very talented team and I look for-
ward to what we will accomplish together at Covia."
No Harmful Chemicals Found After Spill
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials
say early tests have found no harmful chemicals after a spill
near a frac sand mine sent millions of gallons of sludge into
area waterways. A contactor's bulldozer slid into a pond last
month, leading to an hours-long rescue at a Hi-Crush Part-
ners mine in Whitehall, Wisc. Rescuers emptied 10 million
gal. of water to reach the driver.
Hi-Crush Partners provided the following update regarding
the incident, which occurred on May 21.
"On Monday May 21, a bulldozer operated by a worker from
Gerke Excavating, Inc. became submerged in a detention pond
at our Whitehall facility," said Scott Preston, chief operating
officer of Hi-Crush. "Other workers on the scene promptly
called emergency responders and immediately implemented
our safety and rescue plan. This included reducing the
amount of water in the pond, which allowed for a life-saving
rescue. We salute the efforts of all those who were involved
in the operators rescue, are proud of our team's quick think-
ing, and are grateful that the bulldozer operator was able to
return to his family.
"The emergency release of an estimated 10 million gallons
of water was necessary in the successful effort to rescue the
bulldozer operator. The water that was released to rescue
the operator contained silt, clay and sand. As part of the
regulatory framework governing our industry, we conduct
analysis of water discharged from our facility, and those tests
have shown no indication of substances that are harmful to
wildlife, humans or the environment.
"We have initiated a clean-up effort in consultation with
the state DNR and local officials. This includes installing
sediment and run off barriers to contain and capture the
silt; repairing the berm on the pond to prevent further
drainage; starting to clean up the neighboring properties;
and planning appropriate clean-up efforts in consultation
with DNR staff.
"The Wisconsin DNR has taken dissolved oxygen samples
upstream from the point where the silt initially entered the
river and from areas within Independence, Arcadia, Dodge
and the Mississippi River before and after the silt plume
passed through. The DNR has informed us that they did not
find any significant difference in dissolved oxygen.
"As always, Hi-Crush is focused on safety, and is committed to
being a responsible community partner. We are performing
the necessary clean-up and restoration efforts to mitigate any
effects from the water release. Hi-Crush will continue to work
with the DNR, local officials and our neighbors to address
concerns in a thoughtful and comprehensive manner," Pres-
ton concluded.
Covia Corp. Hits the Ground Running
capacity, or 49 percent of our new 12.4 million tpy total
capacity," Emerge Energy CEO Rick Shearer said. "Demand
for in-basin fine mesh product is strong, and we have val-
idated the appetite for local Oklahoma sand with several
key customers operating in the Mid-Continent basin. We are
in the process of signing up customers under contract for
the new plant's capacity, and we expect to fully contract the
plant's capacity by year end."